Carton having an integrally formed measuring device therein



Jan. 17,1967 T. J. SELLORS 3,298,576

C ARTON HAVING AN INTEGRALLY FORMED MEASURING DEVICE THEREIN Filed Dec. 14, 1964 United States Patent 3,298,576 CARTON HAVING AN INTEGRALLY FORMED MEASURING DEVICE THEREIN Thomas J. Sellors, Chicago, Ill., assiguor to The Film Industries, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 14, 1964, Sen-(No. 417,873 6 Claims. (Cl. 222-456) This invention relates to a carton and to the method of constructing it. More particularly, it relates to a carton having an interior, integrally formed measuring device which can be used to dispense a predetermined amount of free-flowing material such as soap, coffee, sugar, bird seed, sand, as well as :a whole host of otherflowing materials.

Cartons of the type generally described above are customarily formed of paperboard and are printed, coated, laminated, or otherwise variously treated to provide specific characteristics for utility and appearance. There are a multitude of uses for cartons of this type, however, the cartons presently available are generally undesirable for one reason or another, hence, are not used. Some of the undesirable features are, for example, the weak structural features of the carton, the unattractive appearance of the carton due to unsightly bulges resulting from the particular construction of the pocket, and the high cost of manufacturing and forming the cartons.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved carton which is adapted to dispense a predetermined amount of material, and method for forming the same.

It is another object to provide a carton of the above described type which can be formed from a single blank of sheet material.

It is still another object to provide a carton of the above described type which can be partially pre-formed and folded flat so that it can be conveniently stored or shipped.

It is still another object to provide a carton of the above described type which may be printed, coated, laminated, or otherwise variously treated so as to provide specific characteristics for appearance and for different applications.

It is still another object to provide a carton of the above described type which is so constructed that its rigidity is increased, without sacrificing its appearance.

It isstill another object to provide a car-ton of the above described type which can be easily modified to dispense different predetermined amount of material.

Other objects of the invention will in part of obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The above outlined objectives are accomplished by providing a carton which is formed from a single blank of suitable sheet material that is suitably cut and scored to provide outer carton walls and an inner wall which is secured in spaced relation to one of the outer walls so as to form a space therein which is proportioned to hold, or measure, a predetermined amount of the contents of the carton. A number of step-shaped slots are formed at thebottom end of the inner wall to permit the entry of the contents. The inner wall is secured to the outer walls in a fashion such as to increase the rigidity of the carton. Also, the inner wall is secured to the other walls and the balance of the carton so formed and constructed that there is no unsightly bulge to detract from the appearance of the carton. Also, the carton can be preformed, with only the ends thereof open, for convenience in storing or shipping a number of the car-tons. The carton can be modified to dispense differcut predetermined amounts by merely increasing or decreasing the number and/or size of the step-shaped slots formed in the inner wall.

The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the article possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements, which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and-objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a carton exemplary of the present invention, partially cut away to show the measuring device formed on the interior of the carton;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the carton of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view of the blank from which the carton of FIG. 1 is formed; and

FIGURES 5 and 6 are views showing how the contents of the carton are dispensed, the side wall of the carton being cut away so as to show the contents in the measuring device therein.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

Referring now to the drawing, particularly FIGS. 13', a carton 10, exemplary of the present invention, is shown having side walls 12 and 14, a frontwall 16, a back wall 18, a top wall 20 and a bottom wall 22; the top and bottom walls 29 and 22 being formed by a pair of folded, overlapped flaps 24, 25 and 26, 27, respectively. An inner wall 28, inspaced relation to the front wall 16, forms in conjunction with'the front wall 16, a dispensing chute 30 for dispensing the contents of the carton 10. The lower end of the inner wall 28 is formed so as to resemble a stairstep and the step portion of thestairstep is cut away to thereby provide a number of stepped openings 32 through which the contents of the carton 10 can pass to the dispensing chute 30.

The area of the dispensing chute 30 defined 'by the upstanding portion of the stairstep, to the height of the upper-most opening 32, determines the amount of contents of the carton 10 which can be measured and dispensed from the carton. Accordingly, the amount of contents to be dispensed can be changed merely by forming the above defined area to dispense the desired amount, by increasing or decreasing the number of stepped openings 32. The latter is easily accomplished by increasing, or decreasing, the width of the wall 34 so that the appropriate number of spaced, or stepped, openings 32 (FIG. 4) can be cut in the blank 50. In each case, however, the width of the slots 74-77 must not exceed the width of the carton 10, otherwise the carton 10 cannot be formed and folded in the manner hereinafter described.

In FIG. 4 is shown the blank 50 from which the carton 10 is formed. The blank 50 can be cut from any suitablematerial, and can be printed, coated, laminated, or otherwise variously treated to provide specific characteristics for utility and appearance. Any size carton 10 can be formed, merely by proportionately cutting and scoring the blank 50 so as to provide a carton 10 having walls and interior measuring device 11 of the desired size. In FIG. 4, each of the cut lines on the blank 50 is represented by a solid line, while each of the score lines is represented by a dotted, or dashed line. Also, the areas of the blank 50 where adhesive or the like is applied for securing the carton together are generally represented by means of shaded areas. Adhesive can be applied within the confines of these shaded areas in any suitable manner, such as by spot gluing or by strip gluing, so as to securely seal the carton 10.

The blank 50 has score lines 40-45 which vertically traverse the height of the blank, parallel to the edges 46 and 47 thereof, and score lines 48 and 42 which horizontally traverse the width of the blank, parallel to the edges 52 and 53 thereof. The area of the blank 58 to the right (as shown) of the score line 42 forms the outer walls of the carton 10. The score lines 42-45 therefore divide that area of the blank 58 into the front wall 16 and back wall 18, both of which are equal insize, and the two side walls 12 and 14, both of which are likewise equal in size. The areas of the blank 50 above and below (as shown) of the score lines 48 and 49, respectively, are cut and scored to provide the end closing flaps 24-27, the end tuck-in flaps 54-57 and the sealing tab flaps 58-61, each of which is proportionately cut and scored to correspond with the size of the carton 10, as determined by the size of the side walls 12, 14 and the front and back walls 16 and 18.

The area of the blank 50 to the left (as shown) of the score line 42 forms the measuring device 11 and, as indicated above, is appropriately proportioned to provide a measuring device 11 which will allow a predetermined desired amount of the contents of the carton 10 to be dispensed, such as one cup or two cups. The only limitation for this area of the blank 50 is that the inner wall 28, formed by the score lines 40 and 41, must not be larger in width than the width of the front and back walls 16 and 18 of the carton 10 so that the carton may be folded, as hereinafter described, without marring the appearance of the carton, with an unsightly bulge on its sides from the measuring device 11.

The width of the wall 34 is dependent upon the amount wall 28, determines the width, and hence the capacity, of the dispensing chute 30, while the area of the wall 51, be low the cut line 74, as indicated above, determines, in conjunction with the width of the carton 10 and the height of the uppermost stepped opening 32, the predetermined amount of the contents of the carton 10 to be dispensed. The dimensions of the wall 51 are therefore proportionately formed, as required to dispense the desired amount of contents.

The-cut lines 74-77 are longer in length than the width of the inner wall 28 by an amount equal to the inset of each of the score lines 65-68, with respect to one another, so that when folded as hereinafter described, the stepped openings 32 are formed.

The width of the wall 34 is dependent upon the amount of contents to be dispensed from the carton 10, to the extent that the width of the wall 34 is preferably slightly wider than the left-most score line, in the example disclosed, score line 73, so that the lower edge of the wall 34 can be adhesively sealed to the side wall 14. With the above exception, the width of the wall 34 may be established, within reasonable limits, as determined by the dimensions of the carton 10 and good practice.

From the amove remarks, it is apparent that the dimensions of the measuring device 11 are readily determined. The width of the carton 10 is established by its pre-established dimensions, hence one of the factors, or dimensions, required to determine the size of the measuring device 11 is known. The volume of the particular contents is determined, in any suitable fashion, and the volume of the measuring device 11 is accordingly established by selecting a desired number of steps, or stepped openings 32, to be provided, which may be one, two or more, and then scaling the height and length of the area defined by the steps to provide the total required volume, by establishing either the height or the length of the individually defined areas.

For example, in a specific application, a carton 10 having a one-cup measuring device 11 therein had the following dimensions:

Inches Height of carton (of side, front and back walls) 8 /2 Length of carton (of side walls 12 and 14) 6 Width of carton (of front and back walls) 2% Measuring device 11:

Dimension the width of inner wall 28 is 2%," so that it substantially corresponds with the width of the front and back walls 16 and 18 and can be folded, as shown and adhesively sealed between the side walls 12 and 14.

To form the carton 10, with the measuring device 11 on its interior, the blank 50 is folded over along the score line 42 (upwardly as shown) so that the portion of the blank 50 to the left (as shown) of the score line 42, i.e. that portion of the blank 50 forming the measuring device 11, overlies the back wall 18 and part of the side wall 14. The wall 34 is secured to the side wall 14 by means of adhesive or the like applied to wall 34, within the confines of the shaded area 35. The blank 50 is next folded over along the score line 44 (upwardly as shown) to overlie the portion of the blank 50 forming the measuring device 11, and secured thereto by means of adhesive or the like applied to the wall 51, with the confines of the shaded area 39.

The carton 10, when folded as described above, lies flat and has a thickness equal to the thickness of three layers of the sheet material from which the blank 50 is cut. When so folded, a number of cartons 10 can be easily stacked atop another for convenience in storing and shipping the same. Substantial savings are therefore provided, since a large number of cartons may be shipped in a relatively compact package. To construct the carton 10 so that it has the configuration shown in FIG. 1, a light force is exerted on the two opposite, folded edges (score lines 42 and 44) to form a tubular shape. It may be noted that in so doing, the measuring device 11, on the interior of the carton 10, is automatically formed. Substantial savings are therefore realized from this aspect of the construction of the carton 10 also, since it is not necessary to perform an additional step to form the measuring device 11.

With the carton 10 formed in a tubular shape, the bottom wall .22 is formed by folding the end flaps 54 and 55 toward one another, along the score line 49, by then folding first the end closing flap 26 and second the end closing flap 27, along the score line 49, so that the end closing flap 27 overlaps end closing flap 26, and by then securing the sealing tab flaps 58 and 59 to the back wall 18 and front wall 16, respectively, of the carton 10, by means of adhesive or the like applied thereto. The top wall of the carton 10 is formed in a similar manner, with the exception that the dispensing chute closing flap 69 is first folded to close the top end of the dispensing chute 30, before the portions of the blank 50 are appropriately folded, in the above described manner.

The front wall 16 is perforated near its top edge so as to provide a punch out tab 78 which is punched towards the interior of the carton 10 to provide an opening to the dispensing chute 30. The end closing flaps 24 and 25 are each scored along score lines 79 and 80, respectively, and are perforated along the score line 48, between the respective corner edges of the car? ton and-the score lines 79 and 80, so that the punch out tab 78 can be punched in and the top corner of the carton 1 0 imrnediatelyabove the dispensing chute 30 can be opened, as shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6.

Themeasuringydevice 11 isfilled, by the contents of the carton 10 flowing through the stepped openings 32 formed in the inner wall 28, until the above defined measured area is full. The carton 10 and the measuring device 11 will then appear substantially as shown in FIG. 5. To dispense the predetermined amount of the contents, the carton 10 is merely tipped so that the contents within the measuring device 11 flow down the dispensing chute 30 and out of the opening formed at its top. Only the measured amount of contents will be dispensed since the remaining contents of the carton 10 cannot flow into the stepped openings 32, due to their being open in the direction opposite the flow of the contents. The contents will therefore fiow past the openings 32, to the top of the carton 10, as shown in FIG. 6. When the carton 10 is righted again, the contents will flow through the openings 3-2, to again fill the measuring device 11 so that a further predetermined amount of contents can be dispensed. It is, of course, apparent that the carton 10 will have to be tipped slightly, to fill the measuring device 11 when the contents of the carton is less than the amount necessary to fill it by gravity feed. Also, while a predetermined amount of contents is referred to as being dispensed, it is apparent that the actual amount of contents dispensed is approximately, or substantially, equal to the predetermined amount, for the measuring device 11 may not be filled to the exact level during each dispensing operation.

It may be noted, in viewing FIG. 4, that the blank 50 may be cut from a single sheet of suitable material, with an irreducible amount of waste. Furthermore, with few exceptions, all of the score lines and cut lines extend in. either a vertical or horizontal direction and are parallel to one another so that cutting and scoring is easily accomplished. Likewise, adhesive is applied to the carton 10 along parallel lines, hence gluing may be easily accomplished also. And still further, the carton 10 is formed by folding the blank 5%) in a relatively straight forward manner and hence it may be easily formed, either manually or automatically by machinery. Substantial economic savings are therefore provided, by reducing the waste material; by reducing the manual labor required to form the carton 10, in view of the simplicity of construction, if constructed manually, or in view of the fact it may be easily formed using machinery; and in view of the fact a number of the cartons 10 may be stacked one atop another for shipping or storing.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efi'iciently attained and, since certain changes may be made in carrying out the above method and in the constructions set forth without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Now that the invention has been described, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A carton adapted to dispense a predetermined amount of the contents thereof, said carton being formed from a single blank of suitable sheet material which is cut and scored to provide side walls and end Walls for said carton, a dispensing device integrally formed with said side walls and said end walls which comprises three walls, two of which are secured to opposite side walls of said carton, respectively, and arranged to secure the other one of said three walls in spaced relation to one of said end walls to provide a narrow discharge passage, said three walls being cut and scored so as to provide, when folded, a multi step-shaped proportioned space at the lower end thereof for holding a predetermined volume of material, said multi step-shaped proportioned end having a plurality of risers which extend progressively outwardly and having treads which are removed to provide openings into said proportioned space; and openable means formed in said carton, whereby the predetermined volume of material held within said space may be dispensed from said carton.

2. A method for forming a carton which is adapted to dispense a predetermined amount of the contents thereof from a single blank of suitable sheet material comprising the steps of cutting, scoring and folding said blank to provide side walls and end walls for said carton, and a dispensing device internally thereof having three walls, securing two of said walls to opposite side walls of said carton, respectively, so as to secure the other one of said three walls in spaced relation to one of said end walls to provide a narrow discharge passage, forming a plurality of spaced, parallel slots and a pair of spaced score lines between each of said slots in said three walls so as to automatically provide, when folded, a multi step-shaped proportioned space at the lower end of said spaced wall which is adapted to hold a predetermined volume of material and which has the treads thereof removed to provide a plurality of openings into said proportioned space, and forming openable means in said carton, whereby the predetermined volume of material held within said space may be dispensed from said carton.

3. A method for forming a carton which is adapted to dispense a predetermined amount of the contents thereof from a single blank of suitable sheet material comprising the steps of cutting, scoring and folding said blank to provide side walls and end walls for said carton and a dispensing device internally thereof having three walls, securing two of said walls to opposite side walls of said carton, respectively, so as to secure the other one of said three walls in spaced relation to one of said end walls to provide a narrow discharge passage, forming a plurality of spaced, parallel slots and a pair of spaced score lines between each of said slots in said three walls so as to automatically provide, when folded, a multi step-shaped proportioned space at the lower end of said spaced wall which is adapted to hold a predetermined volume of material, and which has the treads thereof removed to provide a plurality of openings into said proportioned space, and forming openable means in said carton, whereby the predetermined volume of material held within said space may be dispensed from said carton.

4. A carton adapted to dispense a predetermined amount of the contents thereof, said carton being formed from a single blank of suitable sheet material and comprising closed outer walls, an inner wall in spaced relation with one of said outer walls to provide a narrow discharge passage, a flap on each of the opposite edges of said inner wall, said inner Wall and each of said flaps being scored and cut to provide when folded a multi step-shaped lower end having risers which extend progressively outwardly and treads which are removed so as to provide openings into said discharge passage, said multi step-shaped lower end being proportioned to hold a predetermined volume of material, and openable means formed in said cartons closed outer walls at the top end of said inner wall, whereby the predetermined volume of material held within said space defined by said multi step-shaped lower end may be dispensed from said carton.

5. The carton of claim 4 wherein said flaps are integrally formed with said inner wall along each of its opposite edges.

6. The carton of claim 4 wherein said flaps are integrally formed with said inner wall along each of its opposite edges and are affixed to opposite ones of said outer walls of said carton, respectively, to secure said inner wall in spaced relation to said one outer wall to provide said narrow discharge passage.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Fisher 222-456 Frey 222-456 Frey 222-4S6 X Foreman 222456 ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner. HADD S. LANE, Examiner. 

1. A CARTON ADAPTED TO DISPENSE A PREDETERMINED AMOUNT OF THE CONTENTS THEREOF, SAID CARTON BEING FORMED FROM A SINGLE BLANK OF SUITABLE SHEET MATERIAL WHICH IS CUT AND SCORED TO PROVIDE SIDE WALLS AND END WALLS FOR SAID CARTON, A DISPENSING DEVICE INTEGRALLY FORMED WITH SAID SIDE WALLS AND SAID END WALLS WHICH COMPRISES THREE WALLS, TWO OF WHICH ARE SECURED TO OPPOSITE SIDE WALLS OF SAID CARTON, RESPECTIVELY, AND ARRANGED TO SECURE THE OTHER ONE OF SAID THREE WALLS IN SPACED RELATION TO ONE OF SAID END WALLS TO PROVIDE A NARROW DISCHARGE PASSAGE, SAID THREE WALLS BEING CUT AND SCORED SO AS TO PROVIDE, WHEN FOLDED, A MULTI STEP-SHAPED PROPORTIONED SPACED AT THE LOWER END THEREOF FOR HOLDING A PREDETERMINED VOLUME OF MATERIAL, SAID MULTI STEP-SHAPED PROPORTIONED END HAVING A PLURALITY OF RISERS WHICH EXTEND PROGRESSIVELY OUTWARDLY AND HAVING TREADS WHICH ARE REMOVED TO PROVIDE OPENINGS INTO SAID PROPORTIONED SPACE; AND OPENABLE MEANS FORMED IN SAID CARTON, WHEREBY THE PREDETERMINED VOLUME OF MATERIAL HELD WITHIN SAID SPACE MAY BE DISPENSED FROM SAID CARTON. 